A little wine - Cakebread Cellars

       One of our reps brought someone from Cakebread Cellars by today. I have been suffering from Cakebread fatigue for the last year. Like Sonoma Cutrer, they have stamped a not entirely undeserved claim to mid range chardonnay superiority. It’s not that I’m tired of being asked if we offer their chard, it’s that I’m tired of the exasperation and surprise on the face of those who reply “but it’s the best.” There are a lot of those people. I’m being a shitfaced snob here because I realize that as a restaurant we want to give people what they want, but I taste 20 - 30 wines a week and have found better, cheaper chards than Cakebread. Cakebread delivers a very nice wine and people have come to accept that the name is synonymous with quality, primarily because of the accolades their high end cabs have garnered. I’m a guy in a tie saying try something you’ve never heard of. Who you gonna trust.
       Anyway, we tried the 06 sauvignon blanc, the 06 Napa chard, and the 04 Napa cab. 
       The sauv. blanc was the winner. It has a little citrus on the nose and nice fruit throughout. I usually feel that California sauv. blanc falls flat. This does not. The chard was as expected: very good, but not up to the hype. The bottle we tasted was a little warm so I’m expecting that it will be crisper when properly chilled. The cab was overly lactic and bound to dissapoint those who have had the Benchland Select.
       I bought the sauv. blanc and the chard. I’m tired of fighting it. I’m also tired of fighting the urge to write “let them drink Cakebread” no matter how corny it sounds, so I did.
        
      

We got one.

      Mark Ingram has commited to Alabama. I’m a little busy at work right now, but the Capstone Report put up some info on him this morning.

Free skoolin’ kids. Come n’ get it.

        - National signing day eve is upon us and while some are able to overcome the myopia of absurd fandom and focus on what is really important, others are not. Rivals.com currently ranks our recruiting class #3 in the nation and Scout.com has us at #1. To point out the obvious, we aren’t done yet. Julio Jones and Jarrel Harris look to be strong Bama leaners and Mark Ingram is slated to announce today at 2:30 CST. 
          Assuming we get none of the uncommited players the class is still the best we’ve seen in years. But that’s loser talk. Assuming we get Julio Jones, we send the message to the rest of DIV 1 saying that we have locked down our state. Assuming we get Mark Ingram, we send the message that we are a national recruiter. Excitement abounds. The word “assuming” placed here makes it look less like I have a limited vocabulary and more like I wanted a diagonal line of the same word cutting from left to right through this paragraph. My fellow freemasons understand the code and will begin Pay no attention to it.
          A quick note on the ESPN/Luginbill rankings. On Finebaum yesterday Luginbill says he ranks Bama’s class around #7 or #8 and that even the addition of Julio etc. would not put us at #1 in his eyes. He’s entitled to his opinion and maybe he knows something that I don’t. That being said, this business of ranking is speculative. In the wine world there are at least one or two wines per year that are ranked 98+ by two of the big three (Parker, Tanzer, and Wine Spectator) and then given a moderate-we-don’t-see-what-the-big-deal-is score by the third. The idea is to call attention to yourself and appear more decerning/knowledgeable than your peers in a subjective exercize. No one can ever say you are wrong. It’s not fair to assume that that is what he’s doing. I don’t know the guy and don’t mean to disparage him, even though by mentioning this possibility I am tarring him. I just want everyone to acknowledge the astonishing Sabanation taking place in Tuscaloosa. Forget I said anything. He’s great.

Applewhite to Texas

        The writing was on the wall as of Monday but even with a few days to prepare for it, the reality still stings. We lost Major Applewhite to Texas. 
        Obviously our offense was schezophrenic this season. I remember hearing on Finebaum pre-season that Pendry is very conservative and that Applewhite takes risks. Looking at our offensive production this year, mainly the Tennessee game and the first quarter of the Petro-Weed-Eater Bowl we were great when we were pass happy and took risks. We lost all momentum as soon as we decided to “hold the lead.” To me it looks like we lost the better of our o coaches.
       I love the Norm Chow as replacement talk. The idea that Chow, formerly making 1.5 million as the offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans would take the UA job for at best (and this stretches probability) a third of his previous years salary is nuts. The last time this guy coached for college assistant money he was at USC enjoying perfect weather and at least the view of women who gravitate toward such places. USC, in an offensive funk (in the USC post Bush/Lienhert sense,) may already be sacrificing cash stuffed virgins to Norm’s agent in a hope to bring glory back to their NCAA targeted program. 
        I’ll edit this later when I’m not pissed at Texas. I liked Applewhite. If recruiting suffers I blame Pendry.
           

We, like LSU and UGA, are bowling in LA

      It looks like the Independence Bowl for the Tide this year. I’d post a mapquest link, but you know the way. I have to say that given the season we’ve had I’m nipply about this. I don’t even care who we are playing (Colorado for those that do care.) What arouses me is that we made a bowl and get the extra practice time. That may be the saddest fan statement I’ve ever made. It should be noted that in addition to the Tide I pull for the Redskins, the Orioles, and Ajax. That may still be the saddest fan statement I’ve ever made.

Les Miles is the solution to/cause of all problems

       This is just me being an asshole having fun with current wisdom. Follow me for a sec. Les Miles is playing for the MNC. There is a) no way Miles leaves the laurels behind and heads for Michigan or b) no way Michigan waits until January to name a new head coach. Miles can’t give up a kingdom of his own making and Michigan can’t loose a month of recruiting right? Enter Saban. Last year Saban, riding on a national championship from 2004, put together a top ten recruiting class in a single month. Imagine what Miles as a newly named coach could do in January having won a MNC just days ago. The LSU vacancy/Saban’s wandering eye rumors could be right back. But why would he want to leave all this?

Student body left, student body right

          Verbal comitment and a half Terrence Cody has complicated life for AL outside linebackers. Darren McFadden just told coach Tuberville he’s going pro.

Tommy to Arkansas?

      The rumors are flying, but I smell a Sexton ploy. More soon (that almost seems as if I know something… has a tune in next week vibe to it. I don’t, it shouldn’t have any air of mystery.) There is more than meets the eye here (this whole thing looks like a hoax designed by Sexton to give Tommy leverage.) McFadden agrees to forego the draft if Tuberville stays (I made that up completely.) Parenthetical assertions confirmed says some paper somewhere late at night when no one at that paper is awake or sober (this thing has legs.)

Who is the Norv Turner of college football?

         

         Finbaum stokes the Tuberville to A&M rumors further in his most recent article. I met a nice couple from Texas over the weekend. We were in a restaurant bar watching Georgia vs. Auburn, making idle conversation. I asked who they were pulling for in the game and they told me that they didn’t care. They were A&M fans and just enjoying a close game (it was the third quarter.) I mentioned that they might be watching their new coach. They had never heard of him. I have no idea if these were soidisant fans or if no one in Texas has been told what is common knowledge around here. The short of it is that they started asking me all these questions about Tuberville. I was telling them all about his record against top ten teams, his ability to put together murderous defensive units despite being the second team in the state (they loved that,) and then they asked why he isn’t well known.
          I’m not a big pro football fan. My parents are from Maryland and I was raised on the Redskins but that’s the only team I watch. After the skins game I spend Sundays watching reruns from Saturday on ESPNU. Being a Redskins’ fan I know about Marty Schottenhiemer (but I have no idea how to spell his name.) Schottenhiemer is a fantastic NFL coach. He has a very specific scheme (Big Word!) known to fans as Martyball. At the same time he has a very specific scheme (Twice!) known to detractors as Martyball. The problem with Schottenhiemer is that his teams will always be in the playoffs. Why is that a problem? They will never win. He brings his teams to the brink every year but just can’t get them to the level required to win a championship. Who does that remind you of?
          As a Redskins head coach Schottenhiemer lost his first six games then he won his next eight (thoroughly researched!) He didn’t get a second season with the Skins. They decided to take a chance on Spurrier with regretable results. Schottenhiemer went on to coach the San Diego Chargers, keep them in a state of static contention and then get replaced by Norv Turner (oops.)
         I can’t help but come to the conclusion that Tuberville is the Schottenhiemer of college football. He’s won some amazing games as the coach at Auburn but he seems unable to sustain a campaign. All he has to show for his 78-33 record at Auburn is one SEC Championship (bitch all you want about 2004 - he didn’t get it, dimestore rings aside.) 
         I still recommended Tuberville highly to the A&M couple. What else can you do? What can Auburn do? It’s an odd position to be in; do you let a coach with the third best record over the last (????) three years (????) coming into this season go (numbers 1 and 2 both have national championships) or do you keep someone who has a knack for winning games but seems incapable of winning championships stay? 
        Any attempt to break out of the current contender/second ran rut will be met with opposition. Does Auburn gamble and refuse to give a raise to the eighth highest paid coach in DIV1 football (I have yet to accept FBS.) and give someone else a chance? That risks fan retribution. It also risks a colege equivalent Norv Turner whomever that might be. Does Auburn maintain the status quo? That risks nothing. But it gains nothing as well. Then again Texas A&M may take the decision out of Auburns hands entirely. 

Happy Veteran’s Day - Observed!

        At least something went right last weekend.    And remarkably, the cognicenti have no idea what to do about it. Go Navy! Go Air Force! Army and Marines, I like you too, but for different reasons. I present my emotions, typed without the use of copy/paste, macro, or any device that would deny me the glee of each meanspirited keystroke.

           HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   

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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

         Notre Dame plays Duke next week. My wife, a Duke graduate, giggles and then wanders off muttering, probably about basketball.